nelson harris



(No Model.) v

J. N. HARRIS.

HUB FOR VEHI-GLBWHEELS.

No. 351,764. Patented Nqv. 2,1886.

WITNESSES:

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIGE.

J. NELsON HARRIS, OF NEW YORK, N. r, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERIOAN AXLE AND WHEEL cOMPANY, OF sAME PLAOE. A

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 351,764, dated November 2 1886.

Application filed October 3, 1885. Serial No. 178,877. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J. NELsON HARRIs, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city, county, and State of New York, have invented an Improved Hub for Vehicle-Wheels, of which the following is aspeciflcation.

This invention constitutes an improvement on the Jones hub and axle patented October 2, 1883, and reissued April 21, 1885, No. 10,583, to the American Axle and WVheel Company.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is a longitudinal mid-section of my improved hub with its axle, and Fig. 2 is a transverse section tii hereof in twovertical planes of theline 2 2 in Let A designate the axle, of which 13 is the square bed, and Gv is the arm.

D is the axle-box of the hub. E is the 1nortise ring or band thereof, and F F are the spokes.

The axle A is the Jones axle with some modification in proportions. The arm iscylindrical, is of greater diameter than the cornerwise thickness of the bed, and joins the latter with a curved or tapering neck. 'This neck (lettered N) is longer than in the said Jones patent, is cylindrical for the greater portion of its length, its diameter being equal to the cornerwise thickness of the bed and somewhat less than the diameter of the arm as shown. The arm is made hollow, to form an'oil-chamber, G, the front of which is closed by'a screw-threaded plug or cap, H. From this chamber ahole or conduit, a, extends down through the under part of the hollow arm and communicates with a longituditudinal groove, b, cut in the arm. The oil flows downa and along through b, being thence carried around over the face of the arm, and returning to the oil-chamber through aslot, 0, cut or sawed down through the upper portion of the tubular arm The plug H is formed with a flange, d, which when the plug is screwed down to its shoulder is thereby fixed at an invariable distance from the end of the arm. Between this flange and the end face of the arm projects an internal flange, e, onthe box D of the hub, and on opposite sides of this flange'e are placed leather washers f and g, which act as cushions to take the shock of the end thrusts. 'The outer end of the box D is externally screw-threaded, and on it screws a collar, J, which has a flange projecting inward and embracing the neck of the axle, a packing,

h, of some soft material, being filled in to exclude the dust and grit that might otherwise work through onto the bearing-surfaces.

The parts and features thus far described form no novel part of this invention.

, The Jones hub, as'illustrated in said reissued patent, is constructed with a radial flange formed in one piece with the axle-box D, and 6 5 with a separate ring adapted to slip over the box, the spoke-tenons being clamped between the flange and ring by bolts or rivets, drawing the ring toward the flange. This construction has been found disadvantageous by reason of 0 the liability of the said flange to break under a lateral strain, since, unless the flange is made extremely heavy, it is too brittle to withstand severe shocks. This brittleness is due to the flange being made in one piece with the box, 7 5 which latter must be made of gray iron in order to afford a good bearing-surface for the axle. This method of connecting the spokes to the hubnamely, by arranging their tenonstogether like the stones of an arch, and clamping 8 them laterally between flanges or rings-has been found undesirable on account of the difficulty of constructing the wheel, the forcing in or tightening of one spoke tending to displace all the others, and because of the difficulty of 8 5 replacing a broken spoke, and for other reasons well known to wheelwrights; hence a mortise-hub,wherein each spoke is driven separatelyint-o its own mortise, is much to be preferred for nearly all purposes.

The object of my invention is to improve the Jones hub by rendering it a mortise-hub, and to accomplish this by means of a simple, strong, light, and practicable construction. To this endl provide a mortise-ring, E,which 9 5 is distinct from the box D and is united intimately to it in permanent manner, so that for all practical purposes the two are one piece. The box D, I make of the iron known in the trade as gray-iron casting, because that affords 1co a superior bearing for the axle-arm, which is made of steel or wrought-iron. For some purposes, notably for very light carriages, the box may be made of some other bearing metal, such as brass composition.

The mortise-ring E, I make, by preference, of malleableized east-iron; but any other suitable malleable metal will answer-as wroughtiron or bronze, or other alloy having sufficient strength and toughness. It is formed with a long tubular portion, t, ext-ending nearly the entire length of the box D, and leaving only the end portions thereof uncovered, on which to screw the cap I and collar J. At about the middle of this tubular'portion the mortise-ring is thickened and extends outwardly to a sufficient diameter to form mortises of the requisite depth, and in this thickened portion the mortises L L, with their radial dividing-partitions k 7., are formed. The mortises are made of wedge shape or with a taper, which should be the same as the taper of the spoke-tenons, so that as the spokes are driven their tenons are compressed to the same degree at all points.- The amount of compression should be such that the spokes shall always be firmly seated between the tapering walls of the mortises, and their ends shall not be permitted to strike the bottoms thereof, as in that case, since the mor tises extend entirely through the ring E, the ends of the spokes would rest against the box D, and the blows thereby communicated to the box while the wheel is in use would be apt to fracture it.

I unite the ring E and box D, preferably by forcing them together in a hydraulic press. The outer surface of the box and the inner surface of the ring are first finished accurately, the outside diameter of the box being, as a rule, very slightly larger than the diameter of the bore of the ring. The relative sizes will vary with different materials, depending on the expansibility of the ring or the compressibility of the box, or both, and in any case the difference is very minute, perhaps not measurable. The box is then forced into the mortise-ring by the hydraulic press by placing one part against the bed of the press and bringing the pressure of the platen to bear upon the other part, as will be readily understood by mechanics who have used the hydraulic press for similar purposes. I have used a pressure of from five to twenty-five tons to force the two parts of the hub together, and when they had been thus united it required at least an equal pressure in the hydraulic press to separate them. It is obvious that this is so vastly in excess of the strain ever imposed upon a hub in use that for all practical purposes the box and ring,when thus united, constitute one piece.

The exterior of the box and interior of the ring-being cylindrical instead of tapering, the box may be entered from either end, and being an equally tight fit at, all points, it may be brought to the exact position required relatively to the ring.

If for any reason it becomes desirable to separate the box and mortise-ring, this may be done by the hydraulic press. Thus it is one of the advantages of my invention that although the box is permanently united to the hub, yet at any time,even after the wheel has been completed and in long use, if on account of breakage or for other reasonit becomes desirable to renew the box, the wheel may be placed in the press and the old box forced out and a new one forced into the hub in its place.

The box may be forced out at either end, there being no liability of bursting or injuring the ring by forcing it in the wrong direction.

By my improved construction I secure the greatest strength consistent with lightness, with the best bearing-surface for the axle,and the utmost simplicity of parts. If the entire hub weremade in one casting of gray iron, in

order to have a superior hearing-surface, it would need to be excessively heavy to avoid breakage at the mortises, and if it were made in one piece of any malleable metal the bearing-surface would be wanting in either smoothness or durability.

It will be observed that the box D is formed with an internalflange,e, peculiar to the Jones hub, and that the cap I and collar J of the Jones hub are screwed upon opposite ends of the box. The ends of the box project sufii ciently beyond the ring to admit of this. The

ring E covers all of the box between the cap I and collar J, so that no portion of the box is visible from the exterior.

Instead of uniting the ring E and box D by hydraulic pressure, the ring may be shrunk upon the box. To do this it is necessary to heat the ring very hot, keeping the box as cold as possible, and. to unite them quickly, taking care that the box shall pass freely into the ring, so that there shall be no liability of its sticking fast before being fully entered; but in view of the difficulty and uncertainty of this operation I much prefer the method of uniting by hydraulic pressure.

I am well aware that hubs have been made in one piece of cast metal with mortises for the spoke-tenons; also, that hubs have been made of an outer shell of malleable cast-iron, cast with spoke-mortises and formed to receive the ordinary boxing used with wooden hubs,which boxing is'inserted into it and fastened by pins. 1 am also well aware that hubs have been made with an inner box and outer mortisering united by screw-collars, and with a layer of elastic material between them. I am also aware that a hub has been patented consisting of a conical or tapering tubular box, a conical sleeve shrunk upon this box and projecting beyond it at both ends, and a mortise-ringhaving a conical borefitting the sleeve and shrunk thereon; also, that a hub has been made with a conical ring driven tight upon it,with thespoke-tenonsinserted through said ring into mortises in the huh. I make no claim to any of these constructions.

It is characteristic of my invention that the exterior of the box and the interior of the mortise-ring are cylindrical instead of tapering, so

' and may be separated and replaced without that longitudinal strains are resisted equally in either direction,and the parts may be forced together from eitherend; or, if it is desired to separate them, the box may be forced out at either end of the ring.

I claim as my invention- 1. A vehicle-hub consisting of the combination of the tubular axle-box of gray-iron casting or equivalent rigid bearing metal, cylindrical upon its exterior,and a tubular mortisering of malleable metal, formed with mortises for the spokes, with its bore cylindrical and fitting the exterior of said box, and united directly thereto by being forced orshrunk thereon, whereby the two parts are intimately united in practically permanent manner, as described,

disturbing the remainder of the wheel.

2. A vehicle-hub consisting of the combination ofa tubular axle-box of gray-iron casting or equivalent rigid bearing metal, cylindrical upon its exterior,and a tubular mortlsering of malleable meta1,made shorter than said box, formed with mortises for the spokes, and

with its bore cylindrical and a tight fit with the exterior of said box, and united directly to the latter by being shrunk or forced thereon, with the ends of the box projecting beyond the mortise-ring at one or both ends of the hub, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto s gned my name in the presence of two subscriblng witnesses.

J NELSON HARRIS.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR G. FRASER, GEO. BAINTON. 

